Editor’s Note: I was sent a preview copy of Dave Crenshaw’s upcoming book, and it really grabbed me. In this world where work is often referred to as “the grind,” it’s refreshing to consider the importance of having fun. My key takeaway from reading the book was to work within my natural rhythms, and support them, rather than fighting and trying to become a “morning person.” I’ve found that building in fun breaks injects excitement into the day. (My secret oasis fun is playing loud music from a special playlist. I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments.) Dave was kind enough to write a guest post for us, so please enjoy!

by Dave Crenshaw

Think about the old Hollywood movies depicting a barren desert landscape. Our noble hero marches inch by inch through this lifeless plain, hallucinating and dehydrated. It’s drawn out and agonizing. But just when you think “all is lost” or “I’ll just fast forward this part,” they stumble upon a beautiful, serene oasis in the middle of nowhere. It’s usually just a mirage, yet, somehow, it resonates.

These desert scenes are a metaphor for how life can become. We may struggle with a personal or entrepreneurial desert. The key to coming out of that desert is discovering our “oasis.” By “oasis,” I’m referring to meaningful, fun breaks that you consciously merge into your work day. These breaks refresh and rejuvenate your body and spirit.

The Oasis Concept at Work

The Work Oasis is how you go about taking little, fun breaks during your normal work schedule.

Whether you work in a multinational behemoth with tens of thousands of employees or you’re at a small start-up, the Work Oasis is vital to your productivity.

Most often, these are micro-oases (the plural of “oasis,” seriously!) that occur for 10-30 minutes multiple times each workday. This may be out-of- line with company culture, but for you to be more successful, it is important that you take the initiative to take these breaks.

A study by Harvard Business Review and The Energy Project found that employees that took at least three short, daily breaks were 81 percent more likely to stay with a company, and 78 percent of employees reported an increased sense of wellness. Quite simply—when you take fun breaks at work, you improve your productivity and well-being, and that makes a better life.

When Should I Take an Oasis?

You may have heard of the circadian rhythm or “body clock”. This is the 24-hour oscillation of energy your body goes through in a 24-hour period. Well, in a workplace context, you have an optimal cycle for taking breaks as well. Nathaniel Kleitman, a sleep researcher, discovered the “basic rest-activity cycle”—also called the ultradian rhythm.

Ultradian rhythms are shorter, recurrent patterns in our circadian day. Each person has an optimal cycle for how long they can work before needing a break. Similar to how each person has unique nightly sleep needs, a person’s work break needs to occur every 90 to 120 minutes. You can get to the point of diminishing returns where your work suffers if you don’t take a break. You just stop being as productive. Makes sense, right?

Experiment taking breaks between 90-120 minutes to determine what makes you feel most rejuvenated when returning. Once you discover your ultradian rhythm, you can build a schedule that supports it.

Discover Your Fun

You’ve got the rhythm, now it is time to figure out what you will do on the break. Think way back to when you were a kid. What did you do for fun? Did you like to play video games or play outside? Did you color or watch TV? These activities―however silly they may seem―are at the essence of who we are and how we like to have fun.

Now think about the adult equivalent of that activity. Maybe you take a stroll outside, watch YouTube videos, or play a game on your phone. I’m not telling you to be childish. I’m championing being childlike!

Come up with a list of activities you could do within 10-30 minutes and keep them close by to reference when you take an oasis.

It’s time to restore recess to our routine. Try the experiment and measure your results.

Once you implement your Work Oasis, you’ll likely notice than having more fun helps you get more done.
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AUTHOR BIO:
Dave Crenshaw is the master of building productive leaders and has transformed hundreds of thousands of business leaders worldwide. He has appeared in TIME magazine, USA Today, Fast
Company, and the BBC News. His courses on LinkedIn Learning have received millions of views. He has written three books and counting, including The Myth of Multitasking which was published in six languages and is a time-management bestseller. His fourth book, The Power of Having Fun, releases September 19th. Learn more about Dave at DaveCrenshaw.com.

Look to Be Delighted

Some where around age 9 is when our the frontal lobe of brains develop the capacity to take on abstract thought. The new-found ability to shift in and out of literal thinking could make fun out of the most mundane thought.

Signs were particularly fun.

A sign like this meant where a fire would go out.

And in 9-year-old humor, a sign like this meant it was time to visit the toilet. Spotting such signs gained “extra points.”

This pointed out an option among many we might choose.

Growing up we spent lots of time in cars and signs like these kept us busy while we were awaiting the grownups in our lives. So naturally we got good at finding new meaning almost anywhere we looked.

With eye like that, imagine what I thought when this taxi came into view. Click to enlarge and read the sign on its roof. What route do you suppose that cab’s will take to get there?

I set up some silly rules and invited you to do the same thing. Then, oh, then I said these fateful words, “I’ll do something creative with the links you leave.” You were fabulous and wrote wonderful tales — each one uniquely belonging in a line with the rest. It was obvious that I had my work cut out for me.

First You Wrote These Stories

You were fabulous and wrote wonderful tales — each one uniquely belonging in a line with the rest. It was obvious that I had my work cut out for me. You might remember I listed them about a week ago.

Fill in the blanks to finish the story. For most of the blanks use a blogger’s name, a trait, a post title, a blog title — get creative. Finish each sentence in an unexpected way. You can find plenty of links to spark your imagination at the A-Z directory.

Link the text you added back to the blog or blogger you’re referencing.

Be creative. Change the words or storyline as you wish in order to fit in the links you like.

When you’re done, leave a link with the title to your version of the story in the comment box below.

Then, oh, then I said these fateful words, “I’ll do something creative with the links you leave.”

The Links You Left

I thought that rather than make you wait for the link love. Since I’ve got a doctor’s thing and a trip to the west coast this week, I’m compiling the list here. I’m starting with my own title and going down the line of those you left.

Nerd Family on TV

This post is purely for weekend entertainment. I point you to it at my writing blog to give a peek into the guy who graduates today. This is an excerpt from what I call “The Milk Story.” It’s part of the reason I think of the three of us as Nerd Family on TV.

One thing about three-year-olds is that today theyÃ¢â¬â¢ll eat any thing. Tomorrow you can offer the very same thing, and they wonÃ¢â¬â¢t go anywhere near it. Our son had a signal for when he was in the latter mood. He would fill up on milk and ignore his food. ThatÃ¢â¬â¢s exactly what he did to his dadÃ¢â¬â¢s highly-prepared meal. The young man of three, drank his milk. Looked at his plate. Looked at his father and with angelic politeness said,

Ã¢â¬ÅMay I have more milk, please?Ã¢â¬Â

Ã¢â¬ÅI think you need to eat first,Ã¢â¬Â his father replied.

Our son politely shifted his position, turning his back to his father his face to me, ignoring his food and his father too. He said, Ã¢â¬ÅMom how do you spell refrigerator? . . . chandelier? . . . calculator? . . . spoon?

If we were talking about my son, it’s often the first story I tell about him. It defines our family perfectly. To read the whole story, click the title below.

When We Left the . . . Studio

You might remember that at last look, our famed uncontrollable force and unpredictable influence, Lizzie and Amanda Congdon, leaving the studio of the International Blogging List Challenge! for parts unknown. The studio was in chaos after the Blogging 7th Heaven CanCan Dancers had roused the blogging audience into such a tizzy — blogging and applauding at the same time. (Which we have already established isn’t easy, if not completely impossible.)

Rumor has it that the bloggers and the Blogging 7th Heaven People enjoyed a night of debauchery at 10 Rue Dante — an irony that I’d love to write about, but for once not a single blogger blogged the following 18 hours. They claimed a complete system failure — power, DS, and wireless — all out. Some spoke of eerie MySql errors written on the bathroom walls.

That lost 18 hours has gone down in blogging history as Blog Silence, Dead Feeds, and Dante’s New Level. Even Scoble’s video crew would only say, “We’re glad that MaryAm took you back to the hotel.”

Meanwhile Back at the Hotel . . .

The sun rose on a new day and gave hope to our contestants, the nationally syndicated columnist, author of ten books, international speaker and blogger, Arianna Huffington; the self-described serial entreprenuer, CEO and founder of Blog index Technorati, nationally known programmer, blogger, and blog sociologist, and friend of Janice Myint,David L. Sifry; and author, co-founder and president of b5 media, international blogger, traveler, speaker, and sometimes spy Jeremy, Jeremy Wright.

Our uncontrollable force and unpredictable influence were upstairs having their usual room service — a pizza with fresh tomato, a dozen chocolate-covered strawberries, and two bottles of Perrier-Jouet. This time they sat on the balcony discussing what to wear.

“I’ve done the black and white,” said Lizzie. “I think I might live dangerously and do deep, deep purple with a hint of pale pink.”

Finally the Show Was Back On

That one day seemed to take forever. Each group had reasons why it took so long, but finally the lights, the cameras, the music, the announcements had happened and again the International Blogging List Challenge! was on.

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